Diagnosed with neurodegenerative disease ALS at
just 22, Hawking became as famous for his computer-generated
voice as he was for his ideas about space and
time.

Outpourings of grief and praise for his achievements
sped around the world as physicists and celebrities alike
paid tribute to the unique scientist.

Closer to home,
Kiwi scientists who worked with Stephen have been
reminiscing about his quirky sense of humour and huge
contribution to science.

Canterbury Distinguished
Professor Roy Kerr, a contemporary of Hawking’s whose
research on black holes made it into A Brief History of
Time, told the SMC that Hawking
“was never a victim” and that he had “such an
incredible strength of spirit and character”.

Prof
Richard Easther from the University of Auckland told The Project on Wednesday,
“as a physicist, he’s one of the greats... he’s
changed the way that we understand the universe.” He went
on to say that Hawking’s greatest achievements had been to
connect quantum mechanics, gravity and thermodynamics –
three of the deeper sets of ideas in physics.

In the
1980s, Prof David Wiltshire from the University of
Canterbury was one of Hawking’s students at the University
of Cambridge. He told Morning Report that
“before the professional nursing staff were there…
students would help him eating his lunch and taking him to
the toilet, so you got to know the bloke pretty
well".

“You can find a lot of weird people at
Cambridge... but Hawking really could connect with his
students and with the public in ways that some academics
find very hard.”

Wiltshire told the SMC that during his
time at Cambridge, Stephen “came very close to death from
pneumonia. We read Sherlock Holmes stories to him to keep
his spirits up. That was just after he had lost his voice to
a tracheotomy.”

Prof Shaun Hendy, Director of Te Pūnaha
Matatini, wrote on Stuff.co.nz “He will
be remembered as a remarkable thinker and an extraordinary
public figure who changed our attitudes to disability.”
Hawking’s work on uniting how both quantum mechanics and
general relativity affect black holes was revolutionary –
and led to his discovery that “black holes must eventually
evaporate via a process that is now known as Hawking
radiation.”

The SMC is hiringThe
Science Media Centre is looking for a media advisor to join
our dynamic Wellington-based team of
four.We are looking for an
experienced journalist or science communicator to join our
team, working to improve and expand coverage of
science-related issues across all types of media in New
Zealand.We work in a fast-paced environment, immersed in
a wide range of science research and responding quickly to
breaking news stories – be they emerging technologies,
natural disasters or medical research discoveries. You’ll
need to be able to quickly get your head around a topic and
proactively identify angles and contacts that will be useful
for New Zealand media.You’ll ideally bring good
networks of contacts in the New Zealand media and research
sectors so you can hit the ground running. Firsthand
experience of broadcast and digital media is a plus. To
succeed in the role, you’ll need to be a self-starter who
enjoys working collaboratively and who is able to adapt to
best support the needs of journalists and scientists we work
with.Excellent writing skills are essential. Managing
online content is an important part of the role. A full job
description is available here.
Applications close Wednesday, 4
April.

Policy news & developments

Innovation partnership:
Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods has
launched the Innovative Partnership programme, which aims to
attract international innovators and firms to New
Zealand.

Parks review on hold: The New
Zealand Conservation Authority has put its proposed review
of the general policy for National Parks on hold while it
focuses on supporting and advising the new
Government.

Exotic mozzie found: A
surveillance programme has found larvae from the exotic
mosquito Culex sitiens near the Kaipara Harbour. The
species is known to transmit diseases such as the Ross River
virus.

Submissions on 'new' organisms:
The EPA is seeking submissions on a proposal to remove the
'new organism' status on a number of species including a
beetle, ladybird and wasp that have established in New
Zealand.

Submissions on climate
guidelines: Climate Change Minister James Shaw
has called for public submissions on priorities for New
Zealand at international climate change negotiations.

Low lead exposure still riskyIn the US,
historical lead exposure has been linked to a quarter of a
million early deaths from heart disease each year, according
to a new study.

Researchers
monitored the lead levels in more than 14,000 Americans over
20 years and found that even low-level lead exposure
(between 1-5 micrograms of lead per decilitre of blood)
increased the risk of premature death.

They say the study
calls into question the assumption that there are ‘safe
levels’ of lead exposure and suggests that low-level
environmental lead exposure is a leading risk factor for
premature death in the USA, particularly from cardiovascular
disease.

For those in the study, a large proportion of
lead exposure would have been from air pollution, older
styles of house paint, and issues with leaded piping in some
areas. It’s plausible that New Zealanders from the same
generation are also at risk, according to Nick Wilson, a
Professor of Public Health at the University of Otago —
with leaded petrol being the biggest source of lead for New
Zealanders.

Wilson told Jesse Mulligan on RNZ:
“New Zealand used have very high lead levels in petrol and
we were quite slow as a country to phase down those
levels."

“In 1972, Japan rapidly removed lead from
petrol, but it wasn’t until 1996 that the New Zealand
government finally removed lead from petrol.”

Duke
University Professor Terrie Moffitt — who discovered a linkbetween low IQ
scores and childhood exposure to lead in New Zealand cities
in the 1970s and 1980s — told the SMC that: “it can be
difficult for American studies like this one to isolate lead
as an active ingredient in disease because Americans with
the highest levels of lead in their blood tend to be poorer,
less educated, heavy smokers, and eat an unhealthy diet.
These factors all increase heart disease.”

Moffitt says
that the older generation in New Zealand who are now
entering the “peak age of risk for heart disease” are
unaware their health may be still be affected today by lead
they were exposed to as children, before the laws
changed.

Our aim is to promote accurate, evidence-based reporting on science and technology by helping the media work more closely with the scientific community.

The Science Media Centre is New Zealand's only trusted, independent source of information for the media on all issues related to science. Thousands of news stories providing context from and quoting New Zealand researchers have been published as a direct result of our work.

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